Community,We will no longer allow the usage of the word "TARvaris" in this forum. The highlighting of the word Tar is insensitive at best and bigoted or racist at worst, so please stop printing his name in this fashion.

It makes no difference if your claiming to print it that way to highlight how his name should be verbalized because people tend to say it incorrectly (missing the pronouncing of the "R" syllable), because all your doing is being a passive/aggressive a-hole. In either case, please stop using the term no matter what your point is.

I do love the "Politically Correct Society" we live in. Not so long ago my in-laws weren't allowed to use the same drinking fountains, stay in the same motels, attend the same schools, and so on and so forth as my family was. So yeah.... bring on the political correctness. That type of thinking has given me the opportunity to have a family and children that are allowed to attend school with their neighbors, we can travel freely from state-to-state (used to be illegal in many states for people of different races to cohabitate), we are treated kindly by others, and so on. But I see some stuff still taking place that irks me, and I'm not a big barker about this stuff, but to me there are certain things that are just out of line. This was one that was either out of line with the "What... ME?!" reaction by those who were doing it. Just another example of people pushing the boundaries and then acting like anybody who has an issue is the one with the problem.

The 'jokes' stopped being funny long ago, and to many of us they never were. I'm grateful somebody stepped up and said enough. I hope none of you that are angry about our "politically correct society" are ever put in harms way due to the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, or your religion. I know many who have been and I've been there myself to a lesser extent than family members who were being firehosed and tear-gassed. So yeah.... I appreciate people being sensitive to certain things and recognizing the long and ingrained history they have in America and the need to say, "We don't even need to START down that road here guys."

I don't give a crap. I said what I felt. Everybody has felt free to make every snarky joke and little sneaky innuendo about everything they can for months on this board and I personally am fine with you throwing it back in my face 100 times over. If that makes you feel better then so be it. I'm not going to feel bad for saying one thing for the literally HUNDREDS of things I've read that made that little twinkle in my brain say "Hmm.... that seems a bit much" or , "Is he saying what I think he's saying? Because that seems like something I would have heard from my racist jerk Grandpa 30 years ago...." But I didn't get into it with anybody at any point. I let it go. But I'm saying I appreciate the proactive attitude, the erring on the side of people's feelings, and yeah.... I stand by it. So have at me Roland. I'm sure your intelligence and wit will blow away this guy who has basically been given a death sentence. So be it. I'll die or disappear with a clear conscience. I can deal with that.

RockHawk wrote:Community,We will no longer allow the usage of the word "TARvaris" in this forum. The highlighting of the word Tar is insensitive at best and bigoted or racist at worst, so please stop printing his name in this fashion.

SharkHawk wrote:I'm not going to feel bad for saying one thing for the literally HUNDREDS of things I've read that made that little twinkle in my brain say "Hmm.... that seems a bit much" or , "Is he saying what I think he's saying? Because that seems like something I would have heard from my racist jerk Grandpa 30 years ago...."

See, people purposely looking for racist crap in every word said by others is the real problem here, nowadays.

SharkHawk wrote:Everybody has felt free to make every snarky joke and little sneaky innuendo about everything they can for months on this board and I personally am fine with you throwing it back in my face 100 times over.

I'm pretty sure I have no idea what you are referring to.

On topic, I am happy about the new rule, but more for aesthetic reasons than anything else. Anyone who might have been trying to make a not-so-subliminal point with extra caps in Tarvaris' name, I probably just brushed into the greater category of immature posters without putting much thought into the peculiarities of this particular example.

49ers webzone: Win or lose, i hope you injure Sherman. Like a serious career ending injury. I don't want him to get paid.49ers webzone: noise should not be the overwhelming reason a team is favored. they need to spray noise-damping foam onto the ceiling of that place.

RockHawk wrote:Community,We will no longer allow the usage of the word "TARvaris" in this forum. The highlighting of the word Tar is insensitive at best and bigoted or racist at worst, so please stop printing his name in this fashion.

I don't get it. How is that spelling racist?

He is black and tar is black. Saying TAR accentuates the fact that he is black in some people's posts.

I have said TARvaris before, but it was only in the beginning of the season when every damn person said "Tavaris" and didn't realize they were spelling it wrong.

RockHawk wrote:Community,We will no longer allow the usage of the word "TARvaris" in this forum. The highlighting of the word Tar is insensitive at best and bigoted or racist at worst, so please stop printing his name in this fashion.

It makes no difference if your claiming to print it that way to highlight how his name should be verbalized because people tend to say it incorrectly (missing the pronouncing of the "R" syllable), because all your doing is being a passive/aggressive a-hole. In either case, please stop using the term no matter what your point is.

RockHawk wrote:Community,We will no longer allow the usage of the word "TARvaris" in this forum. The highlighting of the word Tar is insensitive at best and bigoted or racist at worst, so please stop printing his name in this fashion.

I don't get it. How is that spelling racist?

He is black and tar is black. Saying TAR accentuates the fact that he is black in some people's posts.

I have said TARvaris before, but it was only in the beginning of the season when every damn person said "Tavaris" and didn't realize they were spelling it wrong.

Wow...I guess when you go looking that hard for racism, you're sure to find someone to point the finger at.

I call him Charlie Whiteknuckles. Beccuse when he's in there, I'm so tense that he's going to do something stupid my knuckles turn white.

And good post Shark. Agree with you 100%. Sometimes the PC crowd goes way overboard (manholes to "person holes", Merry Christmas to "Happy Holidays" etc.) but with stuff like this they get it right. Better to be over-sensitive to it. The alternative is horrifying.

FREE PEHAWK

Sac>CANI love Sac with all my heart, and wish I were half as handsome as he.

I applaud this move. Below is some text from the old WIKI as to why it isn't a kind term. Is it based on excess sensitivity? Maybe. And so what? When within your power to not offend, please do so. Besides, Rock's site, Rock's rules.

Racial element in modern usage

Although the term's provenance rests in African folklore (i.e., the gum doll Anansi created to trap Mmoatia, the dwarf), some Americans now consider "tar baby" to have negative connotations revolving around pejorative images of African Americans.[7] The Oxford English Dictionary indeed lists "tar baby" as a derogatory term for a black or a Maori.[8] Due to this perception of racial overtones behind the term, several United States politicians--including presidential candidates John McCain, John Kerry, and Mitt Romney--have received public criticism in recent years from civil rights leaders, members of the popular daily media, and fellow politicians after using the "tar baby" metaphor.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] This racist connotation has been said to be largely restricted to parts of the United States [20]. In other countries the phrase continues in mainstream use to refer to problems of an intractable nature worsened by intervention [21].

RockHawk wrote:It makes no difference if your claiming to print it that way to highlight how his name should be verbalized because people tend to say it incorrectly (missing the pronouncing of the "R" syllable), because all your doing is being a passive/aggressive a-hole. In either case, please stop using the term no matter what your point is.

Thanks

Actually Rock, I don't think it's about how his name is pronounced, it's more about the spelling. Even Tarvaris pronounces his name own "Tavaris". (He did that in the Real Robinson Report video) Hell, look at Favre. His name is not pronounced the way it's spelled.

And count me as one that didn't notice the racial undertones in capitalizing "TAR". Oh well, no biggie either way to me.

RockHawk wrote:It makes no difference if your claiming to print it that way to highlight how his name should be verbalized because people tend to say it incorrectly (missing the pronouncing of the "R" syllable), because all your doing is being a passive/aggressive a-hole. In either case, please stop using the term no matter what your point is.

Thanks

Actually Rock, I don't think it's about how his name is pronounced, it's more about the spelling. Even Tarvaris pronounces his name own "Tavaris". (He did that in the Real Robinson Report video) Hell, look at Favre. His name is not pronounced the way it's spelled.

And count me as one that didn't notice the racial undertones in capitalizing "TAR". Oh well, no biggie either way to me.

shoot... I just thought that was the southerngrammar...

FREE PEHAWK

Sac>CANI love Sac with all my heart, and wish I were half as handsome as he.

Posts that are titled with vulgarity included (ie: F... this, F... that) is a concern of mine when I have a young granddaughter siting next to me, as recently happened. That is also very offensive. I don't mind vulgarity used in the body of a post because it can be ignored easier, however, in the title of a post to see "F... whatever" is inappropriate and a shows a lack of vocabulary on the writers part and is certainly not language that young children should be exposed to.

Posts that are titled with vulgarity included (ie: F... this, F... that) is a concern of mine when I have a young granddaughter siting next to me, as recently happened. That is also very offensive. I don't mind vulgarity used in the body of a post because it can be ignored easier, however, in the title of a post to see "F... whatever" is inappropriate and a shows a lack of vocabulary on the writers part and is certainly not language that young children should be exposed to.

Can that be banned too?

Using anything like this, or any version of the F word isn't allowed in any forum except the smack shack, & PWR forums in any form. You should never see anything like that in the main forums, and if you do, report it immediately and it will be handled ASAP.

As for the shack, people should know never to go there with anyone under 18 around. It's posted in the forum description as over 18.

There was a time when the term, "tar baby" was used in many parts of this country...and it meant only one thing.

Do I think everyone who used the TAR caps was doing so as an insult? No.

Do I think Rockhawk went overboard here? IMHO, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I AGREE WITH HIM! This board is not a democracy (trust me I know). This is Rock's playground and if you don't like the rules, there's the door.

Ya only live but once, and when you're dead the living's done.....So let the good times roll!R. Charles.

Wow. It's not my site so I won't rag about this decision, but since I'm one of those who used the "forbidden spelling" I just want to point out that while there was absolutely zero racist intent on my part and that I was only emphasizing the "ar" in the QB's name (now I'm afraid to type it at all lest I offend someone) I do think this is kneejerk and a wee bit silly. If someone were using the forbidden spelling in a racist way then I'd be all for that guy (or girl) getting banned but banning words, and now spelling of words, to me is a slippery slope. I can't help but feel like we've just totally alienated all the pirates in our community and that is just blatantly insensitive.

Can we please now also ban spelling our backup QB's name as "WHITEhurst"? Maybe we can just can him "Wurst" or something inoffensive as that so we'd all be safe from racism.

But seriously, I guess now I am ragging a bit so I'll just say that I do appreciate that monitoring this site to keep it welcoming and civil is a very tough job and I appreciate the work our Admins, owner, etc, do. I get it, honestly, and respect that it isn't easy knowing "when to say when". In this case, however, I most lovingly and respectfully think we've gone a bit overboard (no offense to pirates or any drowning victims in our community).

MysterMatt wrote:Wow. It's not my site so I won't rag about this decision, but since I'm one of those who used the "forbidden spelling" I just want to point out that while there was absolutely zero racist intent on my part and that I was only emphasizing the "ar" in the QB's name (now I'm afraid to type it at all lest I offend someone) I do think this is kneejerk and a wee bit silly. If someone were using the forbidden spelling in a racist way then I'd be all for that guy (or girl) getting banned but banning words, and now spelling of words, to me is a slippery slope. I can't help but feel like we've just totally alienated all the pirates in our community and that is just blatantly insensitive.

Can we please now also ban spelling our backup QB's name as "WHITEhurst"? Maybe we can just can him "Wurst" or something inoffensive as that so we'd all be safe from racism.

But seriously, I guess now I am ragging a bit so I'll just say that I do appreciate that monitoring this site to keep it welcoming and civil is a very tough job and I appreciate the work our Admins, owner, etc, do. I get it, honestly, and respect that it isn't easy knowing "when to say when". In this case, however, I most lovingly and respectfully think we've gone a bit overboard (no offense to pirates or any drowning victims in our community).

MysterMatt wrote:Wow. It's not my site so I won't rag about this decision, but since I'm one of those who used the "forbidden spelling" I just want to point out that while there was absolutely zero racist intent on my part and that I was only emphasizing the "ar" in the QB's name (now I'm afraid to type it at all lest I offend someone) I do think this is kneejerk and a wee bit silly. If someone were using the forbidden spelling in a racist way then I'd be all for that guy (or girl) getting banned but banning words, and now spelling of words, to me is a slippery slope. I can't help but feel like we've just totally alienated all the pirates in our community and that is just blatantly insensitive.

Here's the problem MMatt: How are the mods/Mark to tell when it's being used in a racist manner and when it's not? How do you make the decision on whom to ban and whom to not ban? I don't think Mark wants to have to make that decision...do you blame him?

And here's another thought: Don't folks realize we have 'brothers' and 'sisters' who are members of this site and have been for a very long time? I try not to insult my friends...YMMV.

Ya only live but once, and when you're dead the living's done.....So let the good times roll!R. Charles.

MysterMatt wrote:Wow. It's not my site so I won't rag about this decision, but since I'm one of those who used the "forbidden spelling" I just want to point out that while there was absolutely zero racist intent on my part and that I was only emphasizing the "ar" in the QB's name (now I'm afraid to type it at all lest I offend someone) I do think this is kneejerk and a wee bit silly. If someone were using the forbidden spelling in a racist way then I'd be all for that guy (or girl) getting banned but banning words, and now spelling of words, to me is a slippery slope. I can't help but feel like we've just totally alienated all the pirates in our community and that is just blatantly insensitive.

Can we please now also ban spelling our backup QB's name as "WHITEhurst"? Maybe we can just can him "Wurst" or something inoffensive as that so we'd all be safe from racism.

But seriously, I guess now I am ragging a bit so I'll just say that I do appreciate that monitoring this site to keep it welcoming and civil is a very tough job and I appreciate the work our Admins, owner, etc, do. I get it, honestly, and respect that it isn't easy knowing "when to say when". In this case, however, I most lovingly and respectfully think we've gone a bit overboard (no offense to pirates or any drowning victims in our community).

I completly disagree highlighting '' TAR'' is derogatory when your talking about a Black QB , you know better than that and if you didn't now you do. You can claim ignorance but i'm not buying it.

Last edited by General Manager on Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

By "brothers" and "sisters" are you really trying to say that we have African American people who are members of this site? Or are we not allowed to say that, either? Look, Brian, I'm not trying to turn this into a debate and I've said my bit already. Stil, to answer your question I'll just say this: they shouldn't. Lots of benign words can be racist, sexist, homophobic, threatening, or just plain ol' hateful and it is wasted effort to try to control how they get used in every instance (which is what you are doing when you ban them) and by going down this path that the owner/mods of this board have chosen we'll now have to consider eliminating all sorts of things. Offhand, I'd say that since we don't like how emphasizing the first three letters of our QB-who-must-not-be-named might be used, then we should also ban any reference to drinking a "40", eating watermelon, being on our periods (sexist, not racist), or describing a play or coaching decision as "retarded" (especially if the coach in question is a "brother" or "sister").

Hate is what turns words vicious and I just can't help thinking we're better off not getting hung up on their trivial use, or spelling, and instead actually addressing situations where hate is clear. Good intentions do not justify certain knee-jerk decisions.

General Manager wrote:I completly disagree highlighting '' TAR'' is derogatory when your talking about a Black QB , you know beeter than that and if you didn't now you do. You can claim ignorance but i'm not buying it.

Even when people still refer to him as "TAvaris"? Sorry, you're the one with the problem. It isn't derogatory at all. Making a racist comment would be derogatory, all this is is a correction to a frequent mis-spelling our our qb-not-to-be-named's name.

Firstly; I've never liked the term African American, that's why I don't use it. (My decision.) Secondly, we are not talking about 'lots of benign words.' We are talking about one particular term being used here.

I believe you know me well enough to know my ol' hippie butt deplores censorship...but sometimes it is a neccessary evil. Do I think you used TARvaris in a racist way? LOL! Of course not. But the problem is that there are those who will use it as a double entendre/insult'. Unfortunate but true.

Sometimes the majority has to take the hit for the actions of a few...such is life. (I've never mugged an old lady, but I think there should be laws against it.)

Ya only live but once, and when you're dead the living's done.....So let the good times roll!R. Charles.